The TU Delft Knowledge Center

Abstract

As the technical university of Delft moved out if the city centre, the city and the university got disconnected physically and socially. This institution, a knowledge center for sustainable development, will be the physical return of the TU Delft University in the city centre of Delft. Being a place to show the TU Delft to the public and a place for interdisciplinary collaboration. The complex consists out of exhibition spaces, spaces for study, an open archive, a depot, a lecture hall, a workshop, offices and a café. The building is a bold figure in the urban fabric, representing its institutional feeling through a one metre thick load bearing brick façade. This wall is not only symbolically a protection layer for the knowledge inside, but also provides space for the infrastructure of the installations in the building. The building finds resemblance with the building type of a warehouse. The interior of the complex is fully constructed out of cross laminated timber, giving a light interior character to the building. The spaces in the building are organised around a courtyard in the heart of the building. This courtyard functions as an informal meeting space and is a source of light the visitors in the building will get attracted by. Around this courtyard a visual corridor is created by positioning the columns away from the interior facades. This corridor leads the visitors to the other spaces of this complex. By reintroducing the university in the inner city through providing the city a platform for knowledge transfer and interdisciplinary collaboration between the attenders of the university and the citizens of Delft, a new and stronger social relationship between the university and the city is constructed. This is not only preferable but also encourages the development of the city, as research proved that innovation often occur when existing knowledge between different parties is mixed.